


All That Life Can Afford

by Violsva



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 19:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violsva/pseuds/Violsva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"London wasn't a woman. London was a city."</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That Life Can Afford

Six weeks in, and she almost forgets that this was supposed to have an end. Holmes hasn't said anything about her leaving, not for weeks, even though she's been trying to remember to slowly adjust him back to living on his own. But he must remember, of course. She ought to pack, so she gets up immediately after the action movie, and he says, "Stop."

"I'm sorry?"

"Stop," he says again. "I need -" He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in through his nose. "I need to tell you about London."

She sits down again, and waits, projecting calm and interest. She's always been able to get people to talk to her, unintentionally at first, and then cultivated for her job - both her jobs. Even he did, eventually.

"London," he says, after several minutes, "wasn't a woman. London was a ... city. She took me over, completely. I got entirely too caught up in her. She - when you investigate somewhere, you see all of it. Every inch. I knew her, every detail of her. I loved all of her, every corner, every pedestrian, every cab driver. And I got some of her bad habits."

He must mean the drugs. She won't say, "That doesn't make any sense." Not yet. Like everything to do with him, it might eventually. Or it might not.

"I think that's starting to happen with New York."

He looks up at her, to see if she's following. She's kept her expression neutral. "You think I'm mad," he says. "I suppose that's not really anything new." Another deep breath. "I need you to - that is, I would prefer ... if you stayed. A little longer, or - you needn't pay rent. I know this is beyond requirements, but I thought it might ... help."

"London," says Joan.

"I can feel cities - surrounding me. Like crowds of people, people you love, people you can't escape. And I don't want to, until..."

Joan nods in spite of herself. She's seen Holmes flawlessly navigating a city he barely knows, fitting into any background like it was shaped around him by a Hollywood director. It makes sense - the weirdest kind of sense she's ever heard of, but there it is. "And you don't want to feel that way about New York."

"No! No, I _do_! There's so much here for me... But it appears I can't do it without a -" He laughs. "Minder. Or if you would prefer, you could simply come check on me, I suppose that might work, but I enjoy - that is, I believe you are developing some skill as an investigator, and it would be a shame to waste that."

She knows now what that means, when he praises her _as an investigator_.

"I need work," she says. "I can't live on crime scenes, Holmes. I'll have other cases -"

"I'm sure my father could be persuaded that I need more time under observation, especially as it's more or less true. It is a short-term solution, admittedly, but that gives us time to think of another one, or you to find a job that won't interfere."

He is so goddamn self-centred. She's smiling. Why is she smiling?

She knows why. "We'll try it," she says. "For a while."

He smiles back.

"On the condition," she adds, "that you _stop_ deducing the Mets."

His smile broadens. "Granted."


End file.
